It was still really chilly + rainy in Colorado yesterday [in the 40’s!!]. My awesome sis-in-law remembered that she had a coupon for Great Harvest Bread Company [GHBC]. It was for a free loaf of their honey whole wheat bread. I was definitely planning on redeeming this asap!

After working out w/my bro-in-law in the morning, we headed to GHBC and then Natural Grocers, my new favorite store. Well, it’s not really new because that is where I was buying 3/4 of my ota.ingredients, but NOW it’s a local store for me! So, GHBC, Natural Grocers, AND Sunflower Farmer’s Market are literally all right next to each other. The stores are definitely more wallet-friendly than Whole Foods, with a lot of the same brands.

So my plan was to get the free loaf of honey wheat, but when I went in for some reason a plain loaf of white bread was calling my name. I haven’t bought a loaf of white bread in FORever. Grilled cheese was the plan. The bread was SO good. It only has about 5 ingredients with a touch of agave nectar sweetness. AND, they give HUGE samples in the store. Perfect after workout snack.

1 slice of Havarti + 1 slice of white cheddar + golden perfection

I may have eaten 1/4 of the bowl of tomato soup while I was waiting for the grilled cheese to finish…

yum yum raspberries

I got some samples today from Navitas!! I first heard about them from Kath’s blog. I really wanted to see what their Cacao Nibs would be like in ota.bars! I have tried to incorporate chocolate in a few different forms, with no luck. It always makes the bars brittle and they turn a dark un-appetizing brown color. I think the Cacao Nibs might work because they don’t melt!

Cacao nibs are chopped up cacao beans. It actually tastes more coffe-like than chocolate-like to me. It reminds me of eating an espresso bean, in a way, especially with the texture. They also sent some Sweetened Cacao Nibs, which have a little organic palm sugar and organic cacao liquor added. I can’t wait to try them in ota.bars!

And now for dinner!! Off to 101 cookbooks for another idea. In the last year, my meat-eating habits have changed. I would say I eat meat free about 75% of the time. There was no real reason for the change, but just what I have been in the mood for. I make it a point to eat other high protein foods throughout the day, so I never feel like I am lacking in the protein department.

I decided on a high-protein, chickpea salad. Recipe is HERE! I made some brown rice couscous to make the meal more filling with some healthy carbs and fiber.

1c. plain yogurt + 2t. curry powder = delicious + EASY

I love this dish from Crate + Barrel!! It’s fun to make dinner a little fancy sometimes. Instead of putting it in a big bowl or just having everyone scoop out of the pan, I wanted to put it in a pretty dish.

1/2 of the curry sauce was mixed in w/the chickpea salad and then laid atop the brown rice couscous. Everyone added more sauce as the chickpeas made things a little on the dry side. The flavor combos were awesome though and the couscous was a great addition.